Art Central
What's in a Name?
Behind many famous books is a secret name with its own story: a riverboat call, a bet about 50 words, and three sisters who wrote under men's names!
Did you know?
Before he became famous, Mark Twain piloted steamboats on the Mississippi River. His pen name is said to come from a boatman's call, 'mark twain', meaning the water was two fathoms (about 3.7 metres) deep: safe for the boat!
Dr Seuss wrote Green Eggs and Ham (1960) after his editor bet that he couldn't write a good book using only 50 different words. He did it! Only one of those words, 'anywhere', has more than one syllable.
The Brontë sisters, Charlotte, Emily and Anne, first published their writing as Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell. Each name kept a sister's real initials. In those days, many people thought writing was a man's job.
Try this: Create Your Pen Name
Try three ways to make a pen name. 1. Keep your initials, like the Brontës did: Ananya Rao could become 'Avni Roy'. 2. Swap the order of your names. 3. Mix your favourite animal with your favourite colour. Choose the one you like best. Then write a short poem or story and sign it with your new name!
Go further: From Nawab Rai to Premchand
The great Hindi and Urdu writer Premchand did not always use that name. He first wrote as 'Nawab Rai'; 'Nawab' was a nickname from his uncle. His story collection Soz-e-Watan encouraged Indians to dream of freedom, so around 1909 British officials banned it, and hundreds of copies were burnt. Munshi Daya Narain Nigam, the editor of an Urdu magazine, then suggested a new pen name: 'Premchand'. Ask your teacher for one of his stories!